A PERSONAL VIEW BY MY DEAR FRIEND AND OWNER OF MY BABIES JENNIFER STUART ABOUT
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN INDIGO FEMALE AND MALE SPHYNX

     Almost everyone who has dealt with sphynxes, knows that it is the most loving breed of all. One of sphynx’s special characteristics is that they are hairless. One gets the impression that, together with wool Sphynx has lost much of its feline behavior. I’m a great lover of all cats, but I would just like to emphasize that the Sphynx - this is not just a cat!
     To maintain the genetic pool of the breed sphynx, both Europe and America received a kitten crossed with sphynxes and a Devon Rex. The choice of Devon Rex has been very successful: the type and appearance was the closest to the Sphynx. However, because of such similar blood types, some sphynx cats turned out to be looking more like devons. Those sphynx resemble devons’ thin skin, a bit short bodies, "Devon" small head with round eyes, low set ears, light bones - a clear sign of degeneracy of the breed. One of the characteristic of a new born sphynx is the sign of wrinkled skin that makes them look like little old men. Kittens are still wearing "pajamas bigger", but with age the wrinkles start to disappear, staying, in the best case, on the head.
     Sphynx - is not just a naked cat. Of course, the lack of hair - the very first feature, but not the only one. Morphology, head, eyes and even the character must fulfill some very strict criteria defined by the breed standard. The appearance of a good sphynx is literally magical. It is not only the hairless or large ears. Sphynx has amazing soft contours. In its figure is not a single straight line, they are all rounded, convex, and all forms, however, are fluid and smooth. In this it resembles a Chinese statuette (perhaps so that the second, less well-known name Sphynx - "Moon Cat").
      Another feature inherent in the Sphynx - thick skin, forming wrinkles. Kittens up to one monthare covered in wrinkles. With age, wrinkles remain at the head, neck, slightly to the abdomen and trunk, which gives them a distinctive kind of "old man" look. The more folds preserved in the adult sphynx - the better, and the lack of wrinkles is a vice. The body of the cat of this breed is dense and muscular. They should not be "lean" on the contrary, the stomach is shaped like a pear, giving the impression that the cat had eaten well. Back legs longer than the front, because of which a sphynx is a very peculiar gait. The skin feels like suede - because of its very short-covering gun. Fur is stored on the nose, the back of the ears, and maybe a small amount on the ends of the legs and tail. In addition, the hair on these areas may appear with incorrect feeding, low temperature or hormonal changes during ripening.
      Sphynx Colors are well distinguished by the strong pigmentation of the skin. The most common of them - Tans (bi-colors and three-color, meaning different variants of the basic color with white) and white (with pink coloration sphynxes appear). Very beautiful, as indeed very rare, are colors combined in a group of "Mink". These animals have light skin and beautiful light blue eyes, though not so bright as those familiar blue-eyed Siamese or animals of white color.
       I have already mentioned that the character of a Sphynx cat is not very cat-like. It seems that these cats themselves are good-natured, peace-loving, affectionate to men, often prefer someone from a family , who is not afraid of dogs and other animals, though they have almost no cat instincts, it is easy to learn. We are beholden to their fellow man and are "equally" "human." Communicating with the Sphynx is always a pleasure, perhaps because of the lack of hair creates a feeling of contact, not with animals, but with the creature, standing on a step closer to humans - and how to know if only in appearance?
      Among the breeders sphynxes are put on the homozygous (carrying the hairless gene pair - hrhr) and heterozygous (carriers hr hairless gene in combination with gene re of devon rex) groups. However, most owners proudly declare that their sphynxes – are the real, meaning homozygous. In fact, even having a pedigree, which are completely absent the Devon rex genes, is in itself no guarantee of homozygotes. There’s no need to look at the pedigree to distinguish homozygous from heterozygous. Their appearance says everything, especially at birth: homozygous kittens are born completely bald, with no signs of any kind was wool, and later they have a coat on her nose (but only on the nose, it does not go on the face!), fine wool growing on the top half of the ears and that’s all! Heterozygous sphynxes are always born with hair on many parts of their body (such as croup). Hair may go down after 1-2 weeks, and in later life to distinguish homozygous from heterozygous sphynxes will be very difficult, but as an adult coat may appear again, usually in proportion to the amount that had kitten at birth.